Page 184 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

As already stated the ship was equipped for and run by a crew of eight. They could only
account for seven, the two that escaped in the pods, four that were in the Engine bay when the
explosion occurred and the remains of the seventh that was found in a corridor leading away from
the stern. Where was the missing eighth crew member? Krysta ordered a thorough search of the
ship. The boarding party had not been able to enter one of the storage bays. The door seemed to be
fused shut with some kind of sealing compound.

“It must be some kind of emergency sealing system that triggered when the atmosphere pressure
dropped. The stuff has set harder than steel bonding agent” Ensign Tsu said as he tried to get a
sample for analysis. He was talking to Coms tech Sophia Anderson aboard the Veklaar.

“If it’s like the sealing compound found on the data disc cylinders it might be affected by Camphor
Oil. I read Lysis’s notes from Keteria on the matter. It’s possible that it might work in that door seal
too” She offered in return adding “I’ll see if we have any in ships supplies and send a messenger
droid over. That could be the last place to look for the missing crew member”.

“I’d been thinking about that. If the “translated”
ships manifest file can be believed to be
accurate; then this storage bay had some self-
powered Stasis chambers in there for specimen
storage. Whoever this crew member was could
have sealed themselves in one to await rescue I
suppose” he commented. Sophia agreed and did
a search of the ships supplies. They did have
some small vials of Camphor Oil so she arranged
for one to be sent over to the Kryst ship. Tsu was
surprised to find Captain Krysta delivering it in
person.

“I pre-empted Sophia’s request. As I’d already come to the same idea that this is where the missing
crew member could be. I overheard you mention about the seal and thought I’d tag along; I’ve had
experience of this sealing compound so I’ve brought some cleaning liquids and disposable cloths.
You’ll find it gets messy” She said and handed him the Oil and other supplies. While Tsu poured a
little of the Oil around the seal, Krysta prepared the cleaning solution and rags for him to wipe down
the dissolving gunk. It took about an hour, but when they’d finished the door seal was free of the
compound and the bond it had formed broken. With trepidation the two of them opened the door
and went in.

This Storage bay was slightly larger than the others as it had to accommodate not only the
storage chests and boxes; but two large Stasis units. These looked to the entire world like huge, glass
fronted Sarcophagi, albeit encrusted in pipes, conduits and controls of various sizes. From the
remains of cases and desiccated creatures, one of the Sarcophagi had been hurriedly emptied of its
contents to make room for another kind of “specimen”. The power
supplies were keeping the systems ticking over. Looking into the
one that had been ransacked they got their first “up-close and
personal” look at a Kryst. It would be about a meter three quarters
in height, of slim stature with long limbs. It was wearing a one-
piece coverall; the hands, head and shoulders were bare and its
skin was a subtle shade of tan. Like Flutvarn skin it was relatively
smooth but with trace areas of small scales. It was the compound
eyes that stood out as the Kryst face‘s most remarkable feature.
They were completely lidless like those of insects. Only holes at
the sides of the head signified ay kind of hearing orifices; like those